AFCC/AAML 2025 Conference Sessions 8 & 19 Evaluation |
Sessions 8 & 19: Client Management: Strategies for Guiding Difficult and Litigious Clients
Family court professionals must navigate the process and the law, the evaluations, and the roles of the various other professionals who may become involved in the case—all of which are made far more complicated by “difficult” clients. Such clients may be one or both litigants with a preoccupation with blaming others, all-or-nothing thinking, unmanaged emotions and extreme behaviors that most people would never engage in. These behaviors become even more extreme when the parties are placed into the adversarial process employed by courts. This workshop will provide an understanding of five high conflict personalities, four strategies to avoid, and four key skills to use for calming and managing them while assisting in resolving their cases. It will also provide strategies for managing high conflict cases including realistic assessments and interventions for guiding such clients toward a conclusion without becoming part of the problem.